1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for executing a billing process with respect to image formation by utilizing counter information and job log information which are obtained from an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, services allowing customers to take a copy and send a FAX have been widely provided by installing image forming apparatuses (such as Multi-Function Peripherals (MFP) and copying machines) in convenience stores, copy shops, etc.
Sales of those copying and other services are managed by, e.g., servicemen who directly go to the shops, output counter information stored in the image forming apparatus on paper, and manually issue sales slips on the basis of the counter information. Also, the counter information stored in the image forming apparatus is collected into, e.g., a collection server through a network.
The sales of services provided in convenience stores, which are checked on the basis of the collected counter information, are distributed to the shops, companies having installed the image forming apparatuses, etc.
Also, there is known a technique for obtaining counter information from an image forming apparatus per department and utilizing the counter information for billing. In such a case, whether the counter information is correctly obtained is confirmed by using total counter information of the image forming apparatus and the sum of individual data of the counter information per department. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-18500, for example, a total billing count is obtained from the image forming apparatus, and a billing count per department is then obtained. If the total billing count does not match with the sum of the billing counts obtained per department, the billing counts are obtained again after waiting for a while. The reason is that, when the counter information per department is obtained after obtaining the total counter information, a mismatch therebetween may occur, for example, if a user makes, e.g., printing during a process of obtaining the counter information.
For the service that provides the billing information to customers, if there is a mismatch between a total number of printing by the image forming apparatus and a total value of numbers of printing counted per department, there is a reduction of reliability of the billing information. For that reason, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-18500 performs the above-described processing.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-190219, a history of services (such as monochrome printing, color printing, copying, and FAX sending) provided by an image forming apparatus is obtained through a network. On the basis of the service history, the number of outputs is then totalized per service type for a certain period to calculate a counter charge from the number of outputs per service type and to output a detailed list of charges.
With an increase in the types of services provided by an image forming apparatus installed in a convenience store, etc., work of confirming sales on paper obtained by outputting the counter information becomes more intricate and an error is more apt to occur in a totaling process.
Further, if a paper jam occurs during copying, a copy counter in the apparatus may increase the copy count in spite of the fact that copying has not been correctly performed. Properly speaking, because the copying charge is calculated on the basis of a numerical value of the counter information, the charge corresponding to the number of copies missed due to the paper jam, etc. generally should be returned as an amount of deduction.
Job log information can be provided that records a success or a failure per copy job instructed to run, which can be obtained separately from the image forming apparatus in addition to the counter information.
Hitherto, the counter information and the job log information have been collected by different devices in many cases. This may cause an error due to a difference in timing of collecting the information and a difference in time required to collect the information. The error due to a difference in timing of collecting the information can cause the counter information and the job log information to not match with each other in a total value and a correct amount of deduction may not be obtained.